South Carolina blown out at home vs. No. 7 Texas A&M

Another year and another week brought the same result as No. 7 Texas A&M dominated South Carolina Saturday night as the Aggies throttled the Gamecocks, 48-3.

 The Aggies kept the Gamecocks out of the endzone for the second consecutive year. This was the first home SEC game that South Carolina did not score a touchdown since 2007. This comes after South Carolina was throttled by LSU in Baton Rogue two weeks ago.

“I do feel like this is the best team we’ve played all year,” said South Carolina head coach Will Muschamp.

Texas A&M got rolling early when quarterback Kellen Mond found Ainias Smith for an easy three-yard score. The Gamecocks’ opening quarterback was a sign for what the rest of the game would look like as dropped passes and missed tackles plagued the team. 

South Carolina quarterback Collin Hill throwing an interception to safety Keldrick Carper on the first play of the second quarter. This was followed by a missed 44-yard field goal attempt from Parker White on the next offensive drive for the Gamecocks. 

It would not look any better in the second for the Gamecocks on defense as the Aggies began to pull away. Mond added two more passing touchdowns in the second quarter, both to Jalen Wydermyer, to give Texas A&M a three-score lead headed into the half.

After preaching all week that they were ready to stop the run, the Gamecocks were gashed on the ground by the Aggies. Texas A&M rushed for 264 yards and put up 530 overall.

The Gamecocks struggles continued as Hill threw another interception in the third quarter as boos and chants of “Fire Muschamp” rained down on the field. They would finally get on the board early in the fourth quarter to avoid the shutout as Parker White made a 48-yard field goal in front of a mostly empty Williams-Brice Stadium as most fans had already left.

The Texas A&M offense dominated the Gamecocks all night with 530 total yards with 264 of those coming on the ground. Isaiah Spiller led the ground game 131 rushing yards. Mond finished with 258 total yards and five touchdowns, four in the air and one with his legs.

The Gamecocks were never able to get anything going on offense. Running back Kevin Harris, who entered the game second in the SEC in rushing, had a quiet game with only 39 yards on 13 attempts. The Gamecocks struggled in the passing game as well with Hill going 8-21 for only 66 yards and two interceptions. 

“[I] really never got into a rhythm tonight. Unfortunately, we didn’t move it too well,” said Hill. 

South Carolina travels to Oxford, Miss., to take on Ole Miss next Saturday. The high-powered Rebels are also 2-4 and are coming off a bye week after a 54-21 win over Vanderbilt a week ago. Kickoff is set for 6:30 p.m. next weekend.